Wareham Golf Club has taken drastic action after neighbors say they have to wear hard hats in their gardens…
Another golf club in the UK is rerouting its 18th hole after complaints from neighboring houses.
Last year, Holyhead Golf Club in Wales was temporarily turned into a 17-hole layout while its members raised thousands in a bid to move the final green away from a nearby residential area. Now, Wareham Golf Club has been forced into similar action.
The club, which is in Dorset on England’s south coast, was founded in 1908, but a row of houses was built alongside the par-4 finishing hole in the 1970s. For decades, there was a 20-yard strip of land between the residential properties and the course boundary, meaning wayward shots rarely caused any problems.
But within the last few years, the property owners have purchased that buffer zone to extend their gardens, with many building greenhouses and conservatories which were well within the landing zone of erratic drives at what was the 350-yard 18th.
So, after a number of complaints, the club’s board decided to turn the hole into a 142-yard par-3, with the tee box tucked in near the treeline to ensure golfers are now hitting away from the houses and avoid any potential lawsuits – with one resident reported to have taken to wearing a protective helmet while in the garden.
Wareham Golf Club has been forced to change its 350-yard par-4 18th hole (white line) to a 142-yard par-3 (red line).
Speaking to the Telegraph, Wareham’s club Jeremy Stokes said that, in the last five years, the club had been made aware of “an increasing number of balls leaving the boundaries of the course” which led to “increasing concerns for the safety of our neighbors and our members’ liabilities”.
He said that making the changes were the “right thing to do” before adding: “It is the old chestnut of if you live by a church complaining about the church bells, or if you live by a farm complaining about the sound of cockerels. But I think the neighbors raised the issue in the right spirit and we don’t want anyone to get injured or things to get out of hand.”
One anonymous resident told the Telegraph that her greenhouse was damaged by a stray ball three years ago, but gave the club credit for helping towards the cost of replacing the smashed window.
Another, meanwhile, said that “if you live next to a golf course you should expect it”.
The 118-year-old course at Wareham Golf Club, which has more than 600 members, will now measure 5,572 yards and play to a par of 68.